Callypso Cavern
by WATERMELON-S33DS
Summary: yet another oc fic woohoo! this takes place in gabe's story so he'll be in here rated T because of blood and injury, just to be safe. so read ahead if ur interested in hidden caverns, thought to be lost to disaster thousands of years ago!
1. Chapter 1

_There are legends floating around, you may know them as rumours. Most are proven to be fake... make believe..._

_But a few of them have a shining moment of truth...whether it be a piece of the puzzle being found, or a group of people proving it's reality with their own eyes..._


	2. Chapter 2

The battle raged on, slugs rushing through the air and exploding upon impact. Eli yelped when a Grimmstone grazed the side of his head, just barely taking his ear off. It took a few seconds before his dazed state cleared away, but by then a Hop Jack was soaring in his direction. Eli threw his hands up in defense, feeling nothing. He slowly opened his eyes to find a more than refreshing sight. Gabe stood in the way of the shot, hunched over slightly with heavy breathing. Eli ran up and placed a hand on the man's back.

"I'm... alright..." Gabriel stood and shook himself, quickly recovering from the shot he had blocked with his body.

"Good... and thanks." Eli called as he ran back into battle. Gabe quickly loaded his blasters and charged, firing off Vincent, a Vinedrill, and Princess, a Rammstone. Vincent made quick work of tangling up two of the attackers, Princess taking care of the one who managed to slide through the tangle of vines. He made the mistake of letting his guard down for even a second, for a Greneater landed on the ground at his feet, exploding a single second after the red head's feet left the ground for a dodge. The force of the blast threw him back a few feet. It was a good thing the man had practice with attacks like this, he landed easily with his feet planted and one hand on the ground for support. He slid, his boots digging into the earth, before stopping and regaining an offensive stance with weapons loaded and aimed.

"Retreat!" Called several men, mounting their mechs and riding off, the rest soon following. Before the hoard of Blakk's workers was gone, a shorter man with a round figure turned back and shot off a slug without paying any attention where it was going. It flew right by Trixie and went in a straight line towards Gabriel. He just barely managed to doge it, twisting his body awkwardly. it made contact with the ground behind him. With a smile and a wave of his hand he signaled to the others that he was alright, his victory was short winded, though, for the ground cracked where the slug had stricken. Green eyes locked on the growing hole as his feet made quick work of carrying his body away. He wasn't fast enough, he made the mistake of stepping right on the growing crack, the ground falling out from underneath him. The only things keeping him from falling were his arms and leg that he had managed to hook onto the solid earth.

"I got you, just stay still!" Kord shouted before dashing and reaching for the red head's outstretched hand. The two almost grabbed ahold of each other until a strange noise hit Gabe's ears. Singing? The beautiful sound resonated off the walls of the growing abyss, it was everywhere and nowhere, all at once. With one last look at the cave troll, Gabe released his grip upon the rock and fell, letting the darkness swallow him whole.


	3. Chapter 3

Every part of Gabe's body had been taken over by horrible pain. Just thinking about moving made him want to writhe in agony. When he finally convinced himself to open his eyes, the view caught him by surprise. Everything above him was pure black, he couldn't even see the entrance to the hole that he had fallen through. The walls were all jagged and a dark blue, covered in large crystals and filled with thousands of holes, likely tunnels for slugs to travel through. Sharp rocks and shards of earth covered the floor, an impressive pile lay right underneath his damaged body. The first injury he noticed was a large gash in his leg, blood covering every ince of flesh around it. He couldn't do anything with his right arm, as a large rock sat on top of it, likely shattering any bones in his forearm and wrist. The final, and most severe, wound would've been sickening to most, Gabe simply sighed when he looked at it. A long, sharp rock stuck out from the side of his abdomen, it was coated with blood. He closed his eyes and silently prayed that luck had been on his side, that the rock had missed anything vital. One last thing caught his attention as he opened his eyes, his sight returning to what was above him just in time to see a large rock heading straight for his head.

"Shit..." Was the last thing he muttered before the rock made contact with his forehead. Everything wet black and the last thing he remembered feeling was blood trickling gently down the side of his head.


	4. Chapter 4

"I can see the bottom!" Eli shouted to his friends above, he muttered a quick 'thank-you' as he was growing tired of sliding down a rope made of slug mucus, his hands were going to smell for days...

He fell the last few feet, landing in the clearest spot he could reach with a grunt. Trixie landed a few feet away from him with the help of a Bubbleone, when it reverted back to it's protoform it landed neatly on her shoulder and chirped happily.

"We should all split up to try and find something..." She spoke when Kord and Pronto reached them.

"But, what exactly are we looking for?" Kord scratched the back of his neck.

"Just... anything." Eli shrugged before he turned to sift through a pile of broken rocks and stones.

"Do not fear! Pronto shall use his brilliant sense of smell to track him down in no time!" The molenoid shouted before sticking his nose to the ground and scuttling off, making snorted sounds as he went. Trixie and Kord wandered off to look as well.

Hours seemed to pass, they still found nothing of the 28 year old. Eli had to stop and take a break. His eyes were full of dust and his hands had hundreds of tiny cuts on them from the rough edges of the stones he sorted through. Kord soon wandered over and joined the teenager, sighing in defeat.

"I don't get it! The guy's pretty big... and his hair stands out a lot... how have we not found him yet?!" The troll whined and lay back, sighing again.

"I..." Eli started but his voice faded when two red pigtails came into view.

"Guys! You should come and see this!" She shouted, sounding almost nervous. Everyone grouped where she wanted them to meet. "Look..." A pale finger pointed towards a pile of rubble. A few jagged rocks stuck out, one of them completely coated with a very dark red liquid. It was like blood, but much, much darker. It was Gabriel's. Burpy hopped down from Eli's shoulder and wandered over to a large boulder, two of them in fact. They both had thick coats of the red head's blood on them. Panic filled the gang when Burpy chirped and aimed their attention to them.

"Ok... we know where he landed... b-but where is he?" The Shane worried for the safety of the man.

"Well... he m-might know..." Pronto stuttered and pointed with a shaking hand towards a large rock with a flat top. Upon it stood a strange looking creature, it didn't even resemble anything that may of set foot upon Slugterra. It's face was shaped like a beak with jagged sides, much like large teeth. Two black horns stuck out from it's brow and had strange blue markings. An organe mane surrounded it's head and faded into dark grey skin around it's waist and front legs. Suddenly, it grew in height, rising up onto it's hind legs. Each of it's feet were had gnarly talons that looked like crooked witch fingers. Blue eyes pierced through the darkness, glowing slightly. Black slits, pupils, focused in on Eli, the boy shivered under it's gaze. The beak of a mouth that it had upon it's face opened slightly, a bone chilling clicking escaped from it's throat. Front feet met with the ground again as it turned to walk.

"What the hell is that thing..." Kord asked when he saw it's tail, much like a sharks, and silver in colour with a few blue patches on the fins.

"I... don't know..." Trixie shuddered. The creature made a noise again, this time the sound it made was more of a mix between a growl and a caw. It turned and hissed at the gang before walking away in a slow stride.

"I... think it wants us to follow it..." Pronto pulled his scarf to cover his face, so his fear filled expression would be shielded from the others.

"Should we?" Eli asked. The others shook their heads quickly, not wanting to face such a strange looking monster. "But... when it looked at me, I could've sworn it... told me where Gabe was..." The boy swallowed hard, trying to forget the gaze of the beast, the fear it made him feel. With hesitant steps he trod forward, following the monster. He climbed over a few rocks before a loud clicking echoed off the walls, drawing Eli's attention to the beast. It stood out in the open, waiting for them to catch up. Eli took a deep breath before jumping down the ledge that held him above the clearing, he slid down the rocks, receiving more cuts on his hands. The beast was gone by the time he straightened his posture. He caught a glance of shark fins slipping behind rock before it was gone, he ran to catch up. The others were far behind but he had completely forgotten about them and focused on following that... thing.

"Hello?" Eli called out into the emptiness. He heard clicking again, but he couldn't place it's location. Something heavy hit his back, but left a second after, knocking Eli down. He looked forward to see the monster land on the ground. It clicked again, but this time the sounds it made resembled laughter. That was good... maybe. At least this thing had a sense of humour, maybe it's friendly? Eli hoped as he stood up and continued following.

"Dude! Wait up!" Kord called from the ledge above. Eli ignored his shouts and followed the beast through another small opening, this one was pitch black, but light flooded Eli's vision when he made it through. It was... amazing. An entire underground world sat in front of him! It looked a little beaten up... almost like it had caved in and been buried. Eli looked up and saw something that made his heart skip a beat. The buildings all arched in such a way that held the earth up. A few of them looked like they were about to give out and crumble, but they still held strong. The buildings that stood lower looked peaceful under the protection of the arches, sure they were all in poor condition, but that was from age. He ran up to a larger building, a library and gazed in through the doorway. He expected to see mould, bugs eating the books. Just a general dust coated mess. But, everything looked clean. There was almost no dust to be found, everything looked pretty tidy. Of course, the books were scattered haphazardly, but in a way that looked like somebody could sit anywhere and be able to reach hundreds of different novels or pamphlets. A small light caught Eli's attention before it faded, a small phosphorus slug happily ran out from the darkness, chirping at Eli in greeting before heading off into the bushes.

The next thing Eli noticed were the plants that grew all around the cavern. They looked almost identical to the vegetaion in slugterra, but still different. Everything had weird markings and was glowing brightly, giving the cavern life. He gently slid his finger along the petal of a large, glowing blue flower. It slowly closed up and leaned away from Eli's touch.

"This is... wow... it's amazing..." Eli breathed as he wandered further into the cavern.

"Eli!" Trixie called, her voice echoing through the entrance. The three of them stopped dead when they saw what Eli had spent his time admiring.

"This is... the 100th cavern..." Pronto marveled at the beauty that surrounded them.

"100th cavern?" Kord questioned the mole.

"Yes, yes! Even more mysterious that The Cavern Of Time. Thousands of year ago there were 100 caverns in Slugterra, all standing proud. But, something strange happened... the ground shook and opened up, swallowing an entire cavern whole, along with all of it's inhabitants! When everything settled it looked as if nothing had happened, the cavern had been buried completely, the ground above it showing so signs of holding something before that day. Everyone just assumed that it had been lost forever! Nothing but dirt and decay under the surface of Slugterra..." Pronto recited.

"But... it wasn't..." Eli grinned ear to ear and turned to face his companions. A loud growl caught their attention, it was the beast again. It crouched low to the ground before lunging at Eli.

"Watch out!" Trixie shouted as the beast approached the boy. Eli did nothing but laugh as the beast circled him playfully and dashed off into the city.

"Don't worry... he's friendly." The boy shrugged and followed it. They had lost sight of his ebony hair within seconds as he disapeared into the crowd of buildings and alleyways.


	5. Chapter 5

"Eli!" Kord shouted.

"Eli?" Trixie called.

"I can't believe this! Abandoning us for some... wild, horrible beast!" Pronto whined dramatically, sounding extremely offended.

"No. He's probably just... following it to find something. He said it knew something about Gabe, right?" Kord sighed, having faith in the teenager.

"Yeah... let's just hope that this isn't all a trick..." Trixie felt worried for a second, thinking that the beast could've lead him off to some dark cave and eaten him. She shook the thought off and continued walking.

On the other side of the cavern Eli had found a small patch of grass, with flowers and tiny mushrooms. He ran across it and rolled onto his back. The beast soon joined him, jumping over him and towards a rock wall. Eli watched in amazement as it grabbed onto the stones with it's claws with ease and made it to 30 feet in the air with no trouble at all. It didn't do anything for a few seconds, just sticking to the wall. Something caught it's attention, pupils growing paper thin before dilating, it lept off and dashed into the rocks that sat across the small feild. Eli tilted his head at the monter's behavior, it probably just saw something it wanted to hunt.

"You!" A voice called. It was obviously feminine. "Who are you!?" Whoever, and where ever she was she had an obvious accent. With those few words she spoke, it almost seemed like she had trouble pronouncing a few of them. Eli looked around frantically, trying to place where the voice came from. When he focused on where the beast had run to, he saw her. She stood tall, muscles rippled under dark skin that almost matched the soil's colour. Her hair stuck out in all directions and bounced with the wind. She took a few steps forward and pulled out a large spear from the sheath on her back, the tip of it was very sharp and had a dip in it, like a weird spoon.

"I-I'm Eli Shane! I'm sorry if I'm trespassing." He quickly stood and put his hands up in defense, backing away from the woman. She had strange markings on her arms and face, blue paint, most likely sap or nectar from those glowing plants.

"You are not trespassing, do not worry." She spoke, investigating the boy. With the dull end of her staff she gave the back of his kne a quick jab, knocking Eli to the ground. She laughed when she saw how scared he looked. "I am Callypso." She nodded her head before pulling Eli up.

"It's nice to meet you." He waved when he was standing at his full height, which was still shorter than she was.

"I am guessing Di led you here." She turned and faced the beast, who was chasing a rat. He caught it with ease and swallowed it whole.

"Uh.. yeah..." Eli nodded.

"You made the right choice following him, who knows where you could ended up, or what may have found you come night." Callypso watched Di as he climbed up her form and rest neatly on her head and shoulders. It was a little strange seeing such a large and heavy creature perching on somebody, but Eli just shrugged it off, Callypso must have strong shoulders if this was a normal thing for them.

"Night?" Eli raised an eyebrow. "But... this place is underground?" He took a few steps towards the woman.

"Yes... but the giant lizards care not for light or dark, internal clocks. They go off of feeling in their chests... or stomachs..." She raised a hand and tickled Di's throat, he cooed with affection as his mane puffed up slightly. His expression suddenly changed. His pupils grew thin and he perk his ears up like a rabbit. He scurried down to the ground and scampered off into the rocks.

"What was that about?" Eli gazed down the path that Di had taken.

"Company." Callypso kept her gaze locked on the stone ground. From behind it peeked out a horn, then a metal helmet that Eli knew well.

"Kord!" The boy cheered.

"Dude! Where have you been? We've been looking everywhere for you, Trixie and Pronto are on the other end of the cavern." Kord pointed over his shoulder. He panicked and yelled when something jumped on and off of his back. Di landed beside Callypso with a bounce. He sat back on his bottom, front feet raised and balled into fists in front of his chest, his tail swaying back and forth as if he was asking if he did a good job with finding the troll.

"Good." Callypso patted his head, when she removed her hand he whistled and rolled over onto his back, now acting as though he didn't care for the troll or the boy, or even Callypso.


	6. Chapter 6

The fire crackled and hissed, tossing embers up into the air like tiny red and orange balloons. The five sat around nicely, enjoying the heat that counteracted the cold, biting air. They had chosen to sit close to the entrance of the cavern, on the rocky ground.

"Does it normally get this cold." Trixie asked, shivering and rubbing her arms to try and produce some form of heat.

"Yes, sometimes colder." Callypso waved her hand in the air, sparks and ashes danced around it before disappearing. "I get used to it, though. Sometimes Di helps to keep me warm, his fur hold heat very, very well." Her gaze turned to the beast who was laying a few feet away. The slugs all happily rolled around him, and climbed up onto his back. Spinner and Joules had even burrowed into his mane, purring within the warmth.

"Aw, looks like Di has some new friends." Eli chuckled and leaned back on his hands.

"Quite strange. Usually Di chases and eats slugs alive. He like to play with them a bit as well before swallowing them whole. Often breaks their necks." Callypso yawned. The gang stared on in horror. Trixie cleared her throat before speaking up.

"So, Callypso..." She started. "We were wondering if you could help us out with something."

"Yes?" Callypso looked away from the fire, dark eyes meeting with Trixie's green. Eli spoke up before she could go on.

"There's a friend of ours... he... fell through the ground when the hole opened up." Eli leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.

"Ah yes... I felt that." Callypso nodded. "Strange shaking and rocks falling. And as for your friend... he wouldn't happen to have red hair, would he?" She raised an eyebrow, Eli's expression filled with hope.

"Yeah! Red hair... he's really tall, as well!" Eli leaned forward more.

"I seen him. He is resting, his condition was bad so I left him in a safe place." She looked out to the city and pointed towards the empty buildings.

"How bad?" Pronto asked, picking something out of his moustache.

"Very. His wounds were deep and his head bled." Dark fingers touched dark skin as she tapped her forehead, marking where Gabe had taken an injury. "He lives. But, his breathing was strange." She tapped her chin. Di's ears pricked up suddenly, the slugs followed his gaze as he looked towards the buildings. Within seconds a strange sound could be heard, like some sort of groan that echoed slightly. Out from the shadows stepped a tall man with tan skin. He wore nothing but bandages and a pair of black boxer briefs. He groaned again and rubbed his head, a blood stained bandage covering the area above his brow.

"What... what's going on?" He asked when he saw the others crowded around the fire.

"Gabe!" They all cheered. Without hesitation Eli jumped up an hugged the man, happy to see him again.

"Mr. Shane! Please-don't... ah..." He hissed in pain, gripping his arm which throbbed. "I'm quite sore..." He tried his best to chuckle through the stinging.

"I'm... just relieved to see you. When we got down here all we saw was your blood!" Eli helped him get over to the fire and sit down.

"Ah... yes... I do remember gaining consciousness for a few moments... just in time to see my condition." He shivered as he remembered seeing the rock jutting out from his side. "I almost wish I didn't..." The last words came out in a muttered jumble. "Almost..." His mouth stretched slightly in a playful smile.


	7. Chapter 7

"Good luck!" Callypso called from the ground with Di at her side.

"Thank-you, and thanks for letting us stay here over night!" Eli called as he scaled the cavern walls, climbing up the rope of arachnet webbing. Gabe stood at the bottom with the end tied around his waist.

"Callypso... before I go... I'd like to know something. What happened to everyone who lived here?" Gabe spoke as he took ahold of the rope with his good hand.

"Well... through the books at library, they say that everybody lived here happily for a few thousand years. But things happened. First, people became sick of life down here, a group of cannibals formed and took away many people, including my papa. After that, a sickness took out everyone who remained, except for my mother she was pregnant with me. Di helped her get through her pregnancy and raised me when she died two years after I was born. He's been my companion and friend ever since, 17 years." The beast responded to her story ending with a loud clicking sound. "I did not even know my name... but there were signs all over the place saying 'Callypso Cavern' so I chose that. Me and the cavern have been one ever since."

"And the cavern... how did it fall? I've heard legends of it being an earth quake... but they seemed a little far fetched..." Gabriel raised an eyebrow.

"It was not. Giant beast created tunnels under our home. The ground became weak and cracked open, the cavern fell into the tunnels and has been here ever since." She nodded her head as she finished speaking. "You should go, your friends far ahead."

"Aye... and... thank-you for saving me." He gave her a quick grin before getting a grip on the wall and quickly climbing it, being careful of his broken arm.

"One... one last question. Before I fell.. I heard a strange sound, like singing... was that you?" His voice echoed and he spoke down to her.

"Yes." Callypso nodded her head and looked down to the ground.

"You have a beautiful voice!" He resumed his ascent.

"Favour! Gabriel! I have favour!" Callypso shouted when Gabe was over fifteen feet off the ground, he held onto the rope as he turned his gaze down to her.

"Yes?"

"Please close the hole! I want nobody to come down here, I've seen vision of great danger if they enter. I do have a lonely life, but all I need is Di and the wild life! Please close the hole!" She put her hands together and pleaded. Gabe nodded his head.

"Of course I will, ma'am. As you wish!" He called back before continuing up, reaching the top in 30 minutes, not far behind the others. Kord had to pull him up the last 20 feet, however. His injuries had caught up with him and caused him great pain to move. The troll placed the man on the ground.

"We all ready to head out?" Trixie called as she mounted her mecha and prepared to drive off.

"Pronto is ready!" The molenoid exclaimed.

"I have one last thing to do..." Gabe groaned as he stood. He loaded and fired a Rammstone out one of his blasters at a nearby cliff side, rocks tumbled down and covered the abyss.

"What are you doing? What about Callypso and Di?!" Eli ran up to the red head.

"I made a promise..." Was all Gabriel said before climbing onto the back of his mecha beast and revving the engine.


End file.
